The present invention is directed to a wheeled carriage, and in particular to a wheeled carriage with a brake and lock system for selectively inhibiting rotation and swiveling of the carriage wheels.
Medical beds and stretchers include wheels, such as caster wheels, that are provided with structures for allowing the wheels to be selectively placed in either a free wheeling and swiveling mode or a locked mode. Such structures may include separate systems within each of the wheels for preventing swiveling and rotating and may be actuated either locally at a particular wheel or may include a centralized system of links connecting the wheel locking structures together. The structures for preventing swiveling and/or rotating often suffer from either creating too great or too little braking and/or locking forces at a wheel, thereby causing damage to either the wheel or to the structure, or incompletely braking and/or locking the wheel.